


Responsibility

by Catsarecutebutaliens



Series: In which Pepper doesn't want children and that's okay [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Child Neglect, Don't copy to another site, Drabble, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, James "Rhodey" Rhodes - Freeform, Minor Angst, Pepper Potts-centric, Pepper doesn't want children, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), References to Depression, during five year gap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-25 23:00:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20920040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catsarecutebutaliens/pseuds/Catsarecutebutaliens
Summary: Pepper and Tony have different expectations for the future and a child is not supposed to be a part of hers.





	Responsibility

When Pepper found out she was pregnant, she cried.

She pretended it was out of happiness, of glee, but there was no spark in her chest, no light. The prospect of a tired, caged future weighing down her body and mind and making every smile an impossible task.

Tony laughed, softly, then loud and joyfully, chest vibrating with every breath, and when he held her all too carefully, she knew the child growing inside of her had to stay. 

For him, one last sacrifice. Maybe she would get used to it.

She didn't.

Nine months and she had done her best to forget it instead, to ignore her growing abdomen and nausea and pain and when she held a baby girl in her arms, she was almost content. Almost happy.

Almost.

Morgan never stopped crying and Pepper stopped caring, let Tony handle the growing infant while focusing on what was left of her company, her life. She was barely home, flying around the world, living in her office and rebuilding the city. When Tony bought the lake house, she bought an apartment near the company grounds. It felt more like home than he did those days, and sometimes the ring on her finger weighed heavier than Morgan's asks to see her mother.

On her third birthday, Pepper forgot to call. Dubai's sun, finally free from ashes, shone down on her and lit the spark that had been regrowing in her chest. Tony was angry, rightfully so, and she ended the call before Morgan's voice could even touch the phone.

The walk in the park, their so close to perfect lives before the portal opened and everything went to hell, stayed with her when she flew back to New York, two weeks after the missed birthday. 

It wasn't out of malice or anger at either of them, she told Rhodey, looking at his face opposite her.

Tony had sent him, worried and angry and upset and all the emotions she never tried to separate anymore, and Rhodey had complied, just as worried.

"She is your child, Pep, Tony isn't the only one with a responsibility."

"Responsibility," she scoffed, eyes drifting away.

Pepper remembered the reactor in his chest, the armors she knew were back in his basement, her requests, pleadings, even, to finally take care of himself before he got himself killed. Before she was left on her own with his unspoken legacies on her shoulders. The promise she had made all those years ago and broken over and over again.

_ I am not going to be a part of it. _

Yet, here she was.

Maybe it was time to stop.

**Author's Note:**

> Just as a small disclaimer, I do not hate Morgan nor do I think what Pepper is doing is the "right" thing to do, but I do think Endgame would have been better without her. I simply do not like the idea of Pepper and Tony having biological children, especially not Pepper.  
Please tell me if you find any typos and leaving a comment always makes my day :D


End file.
